Jeremy Paxman has launched a scathing attack on his fellow TV presenters, branding them a bunch of 'failed actors'

Jeremy Paxman has launched a scathing attack on his fellow TV presenters, branding them a bunch of 'failed actors'.

The former Newsnight host is particularly critical of Nicholas Witchell, the BBC's Royal Correspondent, who he describes as a 'buttoned-up presenter who had written a book about the Loch Ness Monster'.

Paxman, 66, poured scorn on Witchell in an interview to promote his autobiography, A Life In Questions, which is published next month.

After describing newsreaders – Channel 4's Jon Snow aside – as 'failed actors', the star recalled how one producer said cuttingly of one excitable newsreader: 'Stick a fresh battery in the news bunny.'

Asked if that comment was a reference to BBC News anchor Huw Edwards, Paxman replied icily: 'I have no comment to make.'

The father of three also has little time for former fellow Newsnight presenter Jeremy Vine, who he once described on air as a 'Mini-me' or 'sorcerer's apprentice'. Reminded he had once used the disparaging remarks, he said: 'Did I? Good.'

Paxman said he did not miss his days at the helm of the flagship current affairs programme and admitted he hadn't been very impressed by the great and the good who had frequently crossed his path.

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He has also spoken for the first time about his battle with depression. In a foreword to the book, he reveals how he was once dependent on antidepressants and friends tell how, as a student, he stood on a bridge and said: 'It is completely and utterly meaningless, isn't it?'

Paxman told The Times: 'I don't see any reasons to be ashamed of saying I've suffered depression. I didn't exactly have a breakdown but it was pretty like one.'

The former Newsnight host is particularly critical of Nicholas Witchell (left) who he describes as a 'buttoned-up presenter'. Pictured, his former colleague Huw Edwards (right)

The presenter also admitted hating his father Keith, who once introduced his son to golf club friends as 'one of those homosexual communists from the BBC'.

In his autobiography, Paxman recalls The Mail on Sunday's revelations from 2008 that he emailed Sir Stuart Rose, then boss of Marks & Spencer, to raise concerns about the quality of the firm's underwear.

He writes: 'I was getting dressed in the gym one morning when, as I put my leg through my Marks & Spencer Y-fronts, the elastic came away from the cotton. I emailed Stuart Rose that afternoon to warn him of what might be a looming crisis. He replied immediately, saying, 'Come to lunch. Not just any lunch, an M&S lunch. Bring your pants.' '

The entertaining account duly appeared in the MoS and Paxman's complaint 'went global'.

The father of three also has little time for former fellow Newsnight presenter Jeremy Vine, who he once described on air as a 'Mini-me'